Three of the six blocks on offer in Trinidad & Tobago’s shallow waters received uncontested bids from a BP-Shell consortium, disappointing some observers considering the five-year wait since the Caribbean nation last put new acreage in the shop window, write Gareth Chetwynd and Kathrine Schmidt.

BP and Shell bid jointly for Columbus basin blocks 4 (c), U (c) and LRL, selecting areas lying off south-east Trinidad and which are familiar to both companies from their past work in the country.

The remaining areas, NCMA-2, NCMA-3, lying off Trinidad’s north coast, and block 1 (b), in the Gulf of Paria, did not receive any offers.

The competitive bid round was opened six months ago and bidding closed on 20 May.

Before the round, the government tightened up its fiscal terms in an attempt to shore up revenue, opting to include a 12.5% royalty in the model production-sharing contract.

Some critics expressed concern that increasing the government take could end up discouraging participation and ultimately lead to lower investment.

“It is unfortunate that they only received three bids on three blocks by two companies long-established in Trinidad & Tobago with established assets in the area where they bid and in an area that has been well explored in the past... that translates to disappointment and shows just how unattractive our acreage has become given the fiscal terms used,” said Kevin Ramnarine, a former energy minister of Trinidad & Tobago.

Trinidad’s previous offering was the 2013 onshore bid round, concluded in 2014.

Several months before the closing date, current Energy Minister Franklin Khan said the round was attracting "strong interest by the major upstream companies”.

Trinidad’s Ministry of Energy will now assess whether the three bids meet minimum expectations, in terms of exploration and production sharing commitments.

Successful bids will be announced six months after the closing.

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